Blacks, Hispanics underrepresented in Monroe hiring

Black and Hispanic hiring for leadership and other public sector positions in Monroe County lags significantly compared to the rapid minority population growth of the past two decades, statistics reveal.

Comment

By DAVID PIERCE

poconorecord.com

By DAVID PIERCE

Posted Jan. 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By DAVID PIERCE
Posted Jan. 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM

PRIVATE SECTOR HIRING

Blacks and Hispanics in Monroe County are much more likely to work in service industries and much less likely to rise to mid-management and senior supervisory positions than their white counterpart...

» Read more

X

PRIVATE SECTOR HIRING

Blacks and Hispanics in Monroe County are much more likely to work in service industries and much less likely to rise to mid-management and senior supervisory positions than their white counterparts, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The commission compiled local private sector employment data for the Pocono Record covering 65 firms that each employ at least 100 people.

The statistics are based on the agency's most recent survey, in 2011, of private-sector firms.

The survey doesn't cover the estimated 30 percent of the workforce that commutes to jobs outside Monroe County. But it shows those African-Americans and Latinos who work in Monroe County are more likely to be in lower-paying service jobs than the local workforce as a whole.

About one in five county workers is in the service sector — from dishwashers, housekeepers, hairdressers, bartenders and home health aides, to police officers, dental assistants and occupational therapists.

About one-third of private-sector blacks and Hispanics are employed in service industries, compared to 17.5 percent of local non-Hispanic whites.

About 10 percent of the white and Asian workers are in low to senior level management positions. This compares to about 3 percent of black and Hispanic workers.

Though whites hold 1.24 percent of the senior executive positions, no blacks and only 0.18 of Hispanics (three people) have risen to the highest management ranks, according to EEOC figures.

About 14 percent of whites, 9.5 percent of blacks and 7.26 percent of Hispanics are classified as professionals.

The percentages of sales workers, including those in retail, are evenly distributed among the four demographic groups in the mid-teens.

Clerical workers in all four demographic groups comprise the high single digits as a percentage of the overall workforce.

David Pierce

» Social News

Black and Hispanic hiring for leadership and other public sector positions in Monroe County lags significantly compared to the rapid minority population growth of the past two decades, statistics reveal.

Nearly 30 percent of Monroe's population belongs to a minority group, second highest in the state.

Monroe County has the third-highest percentage of Hispanics/Latinos — 13.1 percent — and fifth-highest percentage of African-Americans — 13.2 percent — among Pennsylvania's 67 counties, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

But these segments of the population are disproportionately underrepresented in public-sector jobs.

That diversity gap is noteworthy for philosophical and practical reasons: A more representative public workforce can help promote inclusiveness, curb discrimination and build relationships with a changing population.

Is the gap because so many new Poconos residents prefer to commute to higher-paying jobs in New York, New Jersey or the Lehigh Valley?

A 2009 U.S. Census Bureau report said more than one-quarter of Monroe County workers traveled at least one hour to work.

Average commuting time for a Monroe County worker was nearly 41 minutes — longest in the nation.

Are low local wages a deterrent to minority residents seeking work here? Some employers think so but also insist that they cast a wide net for the best workers possible.

One thing for sure is that the local demographic landscape has changed.

Blacks and Hispanics are conspicuously absent among the ranks of administrators and teachers at Monroe County's four school districts, but many factors work against efforts to recruit more minorities, school officials say.

Just two blacks and one Hispanic were among the 45 school administrators and high-level officials in the East Stroudsburg, Pleasant Valley, Pocono Mountain and Stroudsburg school districts.

That's according to a 2008 survey by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the latest report available.

There were four blacks but no Hispanics among 34 assistant principals.

There were 13 African-Americans and eight Hispanics/Latinos among the county's 750 elementary school teachers.

And among 369 "other teachers" were three Hispanics, two blacks and three Asians.

"We do recognize the fact there is a disparity," said Tony Arnold, Pocono Mountain's assistant superintendent for human resources. "We as a district went forth actively looking for minority candidates in the past."

Pocono Mountain advertised job openings in minority educator trade journals, attended job fairs in New York and other urban areas and worked with colleges and universities to identify minority education majors when the district had rapid student growth and numerous openings last decade, Arnold said.

"We would select job fairs where we were hoping to recruit more of the minorities," Arnold said.

One obstacle is a lack of minority education majors at universities, he said. Another is the inability to pay teachers locally what they can make in cities, he added.

Arnold and East Stroudsburg Area Superintendent Sharon Laverdure said the lack of reciprocity by Pennsylvania in accepting teaching certificates from other states also hampers the ability to recruit minorities here.

East Stroudsburg recruited minority applicants at Penn State and Philadelphia when local population growth resulted in a growing school workforce.

"We stayed in the Pennsylvania area because the certification was so difficult," Laverdure said. "There is no reciprocity with other states."

Out-of-state educators hired here have to reapply for Pennsylvania certificates even if they earned certification in another state.

Laverdure notes one of East Stroudsburg's building principals is African-American. A minority assistant principal left the district two years ago.

Pocono Mountain has an assistant principal who is black, district spokeswoman Wendy Frable said.

Statistics she provided for the current school year show that five of 324 elementary teachers and six of 369 secondary teachers at Pocono Mountain are black.

Ten district psychologists include one black and one Hispanic.

Across the four school districts, more than 83 percent of elementary teachers, 60 percent of secondary teachers and 75 percent of other teachers were women in the 2008 survey.

Women dominated in most other educational positions, including guidance counselors (58 of 86), psychologists (12 of 15), librarians (23 of 28), consultants (30 of 40) and teacher aides (310 of 326).

"Women have been attracted to teaching because you have the summers to be with your children," Laverdure said.

Laverdure would like to see more women coaching female sports teams at East Stroudsburg, to provide a "comfort level" for girls.

Two blacks and one Hispanic were among county school psychologists in 2008, with 24 Hispanics and 21 blacks among the teacher aides.

Among 792 service workers were 641 whites, 79 Hispanics and 69 blacks.

The percentage of racial or ethnic minorities working in Monroe County government has risen slightly in recent years, but still lags well behind the county's overall minority population.

About 12.5 percent of the county workforce today list themselves as black, Hispanic or a member of another minority group, county Human Resources Office Bonnie Ace-Sattur said.

This compares to 11.7 percent of full-time county workers listed as minorities in a 2009 survey for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Office.

But nearly 30 percent of Monroe County residents belong to a minority group, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

This includes 13.2 percent who said they are black and 13.1 percent who identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino.

The fact many local minorities are relatively new residents who commute to higher paying jobs in New York and New Jersey probably accounts for some of the county's low minority hiring rate, county Commissioners Chairman John Moyer said.

"I think generally a lot of people figure if you work for the county, you don't make a lot of money," Moyer said.

Today there are 54 blacks and 35 Hispanics/Latinos among the county's 716 full- or part-time workforce, Ace-Sattur said.

Nearly half the county's minority workforce — 42 people — work at the Monroe County Correctional Facility in Snydersville.

This includes 28 blacks, 13 Hispanics and one native Hawaiian.

Another 26 blacks or Hispanics work in the county's Children and Youth Services Department.

Five minorities work in domestic relations, and three are employed in the Probation Office.

Monroe County's two largest police departments have had only limited success in hiring more minority officers.

There is one Hispanic and one black on the 48-officer Stroud Area Regional Police Department and one Hispanic on the 37-member Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department.

Both departments have had to contend with layoffs in recent years, further limiting opportunities to add more minority officers.

"The challenge has been getting positions advertised and getting an applicant pool of diversity," SARP Chief Bill Parrish said. "For public confidence and overall common sense, it's important to have a department that's more community based."

SARP, which serves East Stroudsburg, Stroudsburg and Stroud Township, is "contemplating" adding three officers within the next six months, Parrish said.

Parrish serves on the Monroe County Advisory Council to the state Human Relations Commission, which promotes racial and ethnic harmony and investigates discrimination claims.

"We'll be reaching out to many more organizations so we will have a more diverse applicant pool," Parrish said.

He is hopeful a new criminal justice program at East Stroudsburg University also will boost the number of minority and majority applicants alike.

Pocono Mountain Regional Police follows an exhaustive hiring process accredited by a commission of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association to ensure the best officers are hired, Chief Harry Lewis said.

"Our position has always been to attract the most people to take our tests," Lewis said. "We do everything we can to get the most diverse applicant pool to begin the process."

The top 60 scorers in a written exam move on to a physical fitness exam, followed by two rounds of interviews to narrow the field. Applicants also undergo psychological exams, a polygraph test and background check.

"There is no template that makes a good officer," Lewis said. "It really comes down to character. You do the best you can to hire people who are going honor the badge and the profession."

The department — which serves Coolbaugh, Tobyhanna and Tunkhannock townships and Mount Pocono — currently has one Latina officer.

Pocono Mountain Regional, facing financial pressures from the member municipalities, previously had another Latino and a black officer before the force was downsized during the past two years.